IO-Interactive now a independent studio (with full control over its Hitman IP) - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE][t]http://www.ioi.dk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/WeAreIOIandWeMakeHITMAN.png[/t] We’re very excited to share this message from the Io-Interactive CEO, Hakan Abrak: In its 19 years of history, Io-Interactive has brought you original and exciting entertainment; from Mini Ninjas and Freedom Fighters to gaming’s most notorious criminals Kane & Lynch and of course our beloved Agent 47. With our latest game, we have not only transformed Hitman, but also moved our entire studio into the AAA digital era. Our live product has disrupted the video game business and has received recognition and praise from press, community and our fans. There are many tales of hope, dreams, hardship and joy within these walls. We have never strived for the expected or predictable. Instead, we are always in pursuit for what feels original and real. Our passion and determination has never been greater and so that is why we have decided it is not the time to stop as we have many more exciting and original tales to tell. [B] Therefore I am proud to announce today that IOI is now officially an independent studio. We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout. Crucially, we will keep all of the rights to the Hitman IP.[/B] [/QUOTE] [URL]http://www.ioi.dk/the-future-of-ioi/[/URL] I'm so super pumped that they kept the IP of their Hitman IP. I'm sure that without Square Enix they will manage even better games. In other news, Season 2 of Hitman is most definitely something that will happen!

I wanna cry with joy now. So much potential.

So do they keep everything from Season 1 too? Does this mean they will remove the online component of Hitman? Pretty sure it was a decision by Square to put it in in the first place.

Whew, that is excellent news.

[QUOTE=Antimuffin;52366638]So do they keep everything from Season 1 too? Does this mean they will remove the online component of Hitman? Pretty sure it was a decision by Square to do so.[/QUOTE] I am pretty sure Square had quite some grip on the development of the game when it came to the approach of episodic content, always-online and other aspects of the game. As a long time Hitman fan i'm just so hyped that they regained full control over the franchise, i could shed a tear of joy.

Excellent news, great that for once something does not goes wrong in this industry.

Wow, wouldn't have expected Squeenix to part with such a high-profile IP, even if they didn't manage to make it financially successful. Hoping the risk is gonna pay off for IO Interactive.

Amazing news I'm glad this is happening, if Hitman went away and was never worked on after this it would have been a huge waste of potental

Konami could have been this nice, but NOPE, PACHINKO FOR EVERYONE.... This is promising though.

[QUOTE=Rocâ„¢;52366723]Konami could have been this nice, but NOPE, PACHINKO FOR EVERYONE.... [/QUOTE] I wouldn't be surprised if there was at least a small note during Square meetings about Konami and how essentially the entire gaming industry annihilated them for their behavior. Given that Square wants to [I]stay[/I] in the gaming industry, they're probably in no hurry to follow Konami to the grave.

[quote]We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout.[/quote] Sounds like Square got what they wanted out of this, wonder how much IOI had to give them to get those shares back.

I bet Square got Freedom Fighters

[QUOTE=Reagy;52366812]Sounds like Square got what they wanted out of this, wonder how much IOI had to give them to get those shares back.[/QUOTE] At least around 5 million €. Wouldn't be surprised if more though.

Was not expecting to read this. Good on them. Here's hoping good things are gonna come.

fuck yes. i hope they can re-hire the lost staff as soon as possible so their development of season 2 goes much smoother

So will they be going on their own from now on? No answering to a publisher and do what they want?

Some good news within the gaming industry? :wow:

So pumped for season 2 now.

I hope the development of Season 2 goes smoothly, HITMAN: Trademarked is an absolutely fantastic return to form for the series. Gripes aside it's one of the best stealth games ever made, if you ask me.

Oh man season 2 is gonna happen I am so excited.

I think I'm going to start buying Hitman games again. Haven't played one in a quite a long time, but now that i see the IP has been given back to the people who actually hold the passion for Hitman, that is always a good thing.

[QUOTE=RichyZ;52366919]i know like 0 people care about this but i hope they also got the rights to kane and lynch[/QUOTE] I want K&L3, but if they couldn't even be assed to finish the movie there's no way they're finishing a new game.

say what you want about square enix but at least they had the decency to let an IP go that they didn't know what to do with take notes, capcom. give megaman to someone else

[QUOTE=RichyZ;52366919]i know like 0 people care about this but i hope they also got the rights to kane and lynch[/QUOTE] I don't even care it doesn't have a single player, I just want more fragile allience multiplayer. Specifically on PC.

They mentioned freedom fighters, nice.

[QUOTE=Mabus;52367479]They mentioned freedom fighters, nice.[/QUOTE] Man, Freedom Fighters was my shit back in the day! I wonder if they would decide to pick it back up. Even though it's been 5 years since they talked about it in this tweet. [Media]https://twitter.com/IOInteractive/status/89262955866243072[/media] A reboot would be amazing with current gen if they expanded the basic core ideas they had with squad management and the pros/cons depending on the order you did your missions.

I wonder if they'll drop the always-online requirement, now that Squenix no longer has a hand in this game.

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;52367439]I don't even care it doesn't have a single player, I just want more fragile allience multiplayer. Specifically on PC.[/QUOTE] They were hiring for people to engineer multiplayer co-op for Hitman recently

I have so much Yoi right now. Hitman + Freedom Fighters would be the shit.

[QUOTE=Scratch.;52369072]They were hiring for people to engineer multiplayer co-op for Hitman recently[/QUOTE] Why Coop of all things? Counter-Op like in Perfect Dark would seem like a far more interesting thing.